


The Epic of Gilgamesh

by Calesvol



Series: The Archives [7]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst and Tragedy, Canon-Typical Violence, Dark Past, F/M, M/M, Past Character Death, Political Campaigns, Pre-Canon, Slow Burn, Tragic Romance, War, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-28 15:42:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14452434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calesvol/pseuds/Calesvol
Summary: Before he was expunged from all of history, Ardyn Izunia had a beginning. He had friends, triumphs and trials, and a life so little today know about. Once, there was a man before he became a monster.





	The Epic of Gilgamesh

Warning(s): T, character death

* * *

 

This had been his capital city once, over a thousand years ago when the sun of Old Solheim wasn’t always the one that danced across the Cosmos. A beautiful place, situated on its own island and framed by the sea. Solheimian influence was pronounced, as it was across the old empire. Spires climbed into the very skies, with only Costlemark on its coast otherwise dominating what had been the varied and beautiful landscapes of his old kingdom. When Solheim hadn’t been old but boastful of a thousand years of legacy. He was old as the coasts that washed into the sea, Cavaugh sands and verdant shorelines changeless as the sun.

 

Yet, even as he awoke that morning, the name Izdubar tasted like dying words on his tongue. The sunlight filtered through the filmy linen curtains lining the periphery of his bed, Izdubar rising from the long cot that was longer and wider than any mortal man. Eight feet. For he was not solely a son of humanity.

 

Before an ivory basin did the man wash his dark, coppery skin and square face, over high cheekbones, cleansing all of his bare torso as best he could—for a trip to the _hammam_ would come much later. Silvery locks were combed through, then braided in a queue that touched his back. It was always his eyes that seemed the most fell of luck, some thinking as though a daemon possessed them. Scarlet, refulgent red. Always glowing, no matter what.

 

Alone did he change into a fresh cobalt kaftan, trousers, and a wide belt to girdle his waist. Boots so his feet would not become dirty, even on spotless marble floors. The servants were paid well to ensure the Lord of the Skies’ son slept in immaculate quarters.

 

Izdubar found a delicate oil lamp that he lit, banishing away the darkness in the long corridors that spanned the sprawl of Cavaugh’s princely palace estate. There were, surprisingly, no servants milling about as the man trekked the halls alone. Typically, the early hours of the morning preceding and after the dawn were the busiest as they prepared the royal household for the day ahead.

 

It hardly came as a shock. No royal family had occupied these halls for generations. Solheim’s decline hadn’t only been in the form of its territories receding, after all. Old kingdoms that had made the empire beat with hearts throughout the world grew dim in their pulse. Even now, Izdubar could sense atrophy in these halls. Crumbling paint once vivid, ensconced torches not burning as brightly as they once did, and the power of Magitechnology almost dimming entirely. The world in the city of Eunoch was fast falling into a hibernation he doubted could be salvaged from.

 

The way before the throne room only grew dark before a pair of masked ushers clad all in decorous black gestured towards him in strange tandem, then taking the enormous knobs of the polished black door of its ingress and drew it open with a long, cavernous creaking that echoed throughout the throne room and corridor alike.

 

Throne rooms were larger in those days, seating one and two others. Two thrones for the king and queen, and one enormous one that overshadowed them meant for their patron god.

 

In luxuriantly carved black onyx, made by Ifrit’s fire, shaped like a tempestuous tsunami flooded from behind, was seated the impossibly tall form of Bahamut. Stories tall, his black and blue armor seemed absorbed into the throne like a monument, only the gold accents reflecting the firelight set within blazing braziers. Enormous claws curled around the armrests, dusky blue eyes alone the defining, almost human trait.

 

His father had told him long ago: he was not born from love, but foresight and necessity. Demigods were known only in his line, and that of Ifrit’s successor and their son’s sons. No more.

 

Bahamut gazed upon his son, and it was quiet for the longest of moments. That was, until his thunderous, resonant voice chased away the silence.

 

“You know why I have summoned you here, blood of my blood. The Plague of the Stars that fell upon the Star has run rampant, slaughtering the peoples of Solheim in multitudes. You know this. In the time of its succor, the Crystal has stirred and the Soul of the Star has decided: there is to be a Chosen to whom this threat will be felled. And you will serve him as his protector.”

 

Izdubar was tempted to wrinkle his brow, to frown, to show some sign of processing what he has been told. A thousand years ago, Ca-dimirra had flourished. Considered one of the wealthiest and most innovative kingdoms of its time, his and his people’s advances in Magitek had catapulted them and Solheimian cultures light years ahead of what it would’ve otherwise been. And he had been its longest reigning king. But as all things do, it sank into decline as the house of his founding, House Amicitia, floundered. Though not dead, they were far from the ideal he had wished for them.

 

Though, much of Ca-dimirra had become subjected to rot.

 

“Where might I find this Chosen, Lord Bahamut? I will prepare to find him at once.”

 

The Draconian shifted upon the throne, though he was otherwise statuesque, not even his jaw moving as he spoke. “You will find them in the Vesperpool on the borders of Steyliff. Go forth, flesh of my flesh, and upon your return, Nadir will inform you and them of the mission ahead.”

 

No more was to be said as Izdubar bowed low and reverently, genuflecting once before taking his leave. The doors whined shut as they closed, obstructing any further view of the Draconian. Not that he cared to look over his back.

 

Regardless, it felt as though a gust of wind was gradually dispelling away the eons-old stagnancy. That the wheel of fate, struck in a rut and filtered by cobwebs, had finally been loosed and was soon to be freed.

 

For fate was always fast on the heel of prophecy.

* * *

It was by mid-morning that Izdubar set out from Eunoch, traveling another means as no chocobo could bear the weight of his burden. Almost fully-armored, it was only a hood and lower facial covering that remain undisguised, concealing him otherwise. Though, even then, he was hardly disguised. It was astride an enormous spiracorn known as Kaya did his retinue upon black chocobos trot closely behind, knowing their lord was deep in thought.

 

As had been relayed to him by Nadir, Bahamut’s messenger, at the last minute did he hear tale of House Izunia. A lesser noble house of Ca-dimirra, he had neglected to even have heard of them before. The least of which he knew was that Anna Izunia of Tenebrae, the lady of the house, and Germane Izunia of Galahd, its patriarch, had fallen upon hard times and that they bore two sons, Somnus and Ardyn. Both of which were in their late twenties, as they were twins. Not identical, but twins all the same.

 

They rode for hours through the dust bowl of Leide, past the sloping grasslands and forests of Duscae and Cleigne and the enormous sundial and mythril wing that rose distinctly on the outskirts of Lestallum that were famed for being of Titan’s creation. Their usage had been lost to time, even if Izdubar possessed the knowledge, it had been an evil thing—one meant to siphon the light of the sun that had once threatened to cast them into darkness. Now, it stood as a monument to the worst of Solheim’s decadence.

 

By early evening, they had dinner at the small fishing hamlet of Galdin before leaving the day after. The sun was already high and pressing hotly upon their backs, their shadows becoming shorter until they finally came upon the dusty paved highway that would lead them to the Vesperpool, to Steyliff, and to his new charge.

 

Spurring his spiracorn into a canter, Izdubar became thoughtful. Before he’d left, Nadir had told him something pressing: that when Ardyn and Somnus were found and brought back to Eunoch, there would be much change. From names, to duties, to the beginning of a new era. It weighed upon the Blademaster ominously, settling like bile in his throat. Though already a thousand years old, drastic change brought a feeling of apprehension in him—even if not immediately felt.

 

The late evening the next day, heavy and brooding clouds sculled from the west, his closest friend Enkidu almost glaring at the sky. Consternation marred the dark ochre of his face, winds ruffling through his jet black mane and thick beard. Compared to Izdubar’s complete lack of one.

 

“I doubt this storm, Lord Izdubar. Something foul roosts in the air. Something evil,” the man said, his chocobo stirring uneasily.

 

Izdubar smiled tensely, lips thinning. “We cannot let ominous feelings bar our path, my friend. Pray to Lord Ramuh that we may prevail through this storm.”

 

They spurred their mounts on despite their skittishness, Izdubar’s spiracorn, Kaya, being the only one who seemed unmoved by the winds that galloped through the wide palm fronds in the forest of palm trees. From where they could see, a small encampment of modest homes lined a dust-lain street, a bitter light from the overcast sky ghoulishly silhouetting the clay brick houses.

 

Izdubar slowed until they came to a halt, surprised to see a familiar silhouette emerge from an alleyway and into the main, unnervingly quiet thoroughfare. Nadir. It was obvious by his maroon hair shaped like spikes, of the enormous draconian wings sprouted from his back. Clad in his elaborate rust and gold armor he appeared too rich amid this provincial town.

 

“Lord Nadir. We weren’t expecting you,” Izdubar greeted in some surprise after tethering their mounts to a rail by the Izunia’s home, but nevertheless, he shook hands with a man who might as well be a brother. “I didn’t think you’d be here. Have you met with the Izunias?”

 

Nadir’s summery gold features wore a severe expression at the mention of that, lowering his hand after they shook one another’s. “Germane Izunia is no longer among the living. Passed from the Starscourge, I’m afraid, my brother.” He sighed, but met Izdubar’s gaze with his rosy gold own. “Come, we must meet them nonetheless. These brothers will take solace knowing the gods mourn with them.”

 

The Shield-to-be become solemn, knowing acutely the pain of losing one’s mother, even a wife. The latter having perished for the same reasons. Izdubar said nothing more as they stepped within the single-story domicile, the primary room of it occupied by a table upon which lay the patriarch’s dutifully preserved body that would likely be subject to mummification within the coming days. It was the funerary rights that need be performed by the family, first. The viewing, and the service in the name of whatever deity was the family patron god.

 

Flower petals and gold flickering candles encompassed the man’s head and along his flanks, gold coins upon his eyes while a large tarp covered the rest of his body. His face was painted, likely to mask the way the Starscourge had made his skin ashen. It was inside that a stout blonde woman with brown eyes met them, her pale face streaked ruddy by tears.

 

“Thank you for being here, my lords,” she sniffed through fresh tears, ashamed of her grief even if she had no reason to be. Anna dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief, smiling thinly. “You seek my sons, don’t you? They were just in their room. Allow me to summon them.”

 

Anna shuffled down a narrow corridor lit by crystals, knocking on a door to the right before she stepped aside and saw both men shuffle out. They appeared to be twenty-five years of age or older, one with a maroon mane and the other with black hair swept back. Ardyn, as he knew, was the more distinguishable of the two with brown eyes bordering on gold, taller and more built, while Somnus was composed more like his mother. Both would be eye-catching to any woman, but the grimness that hung over them didn’t invite frivolous thoughts.

 

“Mother, who are these people?” Somnus asked first, glancing skeptically at the shorter woman. “Why are they here?”

 

“Hush, Somnus; they’re messengers,” Ardyn answered in awe, bowing from the waist to Nadir and Izdubar. “I remember you from the services, Lord Nadir. Truly, you do honor us, indeed.” After bowing to Nadir, he repeated the motion to Izdubar, but his eyes lingered far longer, seemingly entranced by what he saw. Izdubar was unusually tall, after all. That...among other things. If anything, his bronzed gaze was piercing, like whittling wood down to the quick.

 

Izdubar quailed imperceptibly from Ardyn’s sight, focusing instead upon Somnus and Anna. Not enough to entirely ignore the auburn-haired man. “Peace be upon you, Lady Izunia, Somnus and Ardyn. We brimg our condolences and a message from the Lord of the Skies,” he stated officiously, a hand placed in sincerity upon his chest. The blonde woman looked intrigued, but held her tongue for fear of interrupting.

 

It was Nadir who spoke next. “Ardyn and Somnus Izunia.” Both men stood up ramrod straight. “The Lord Bahamut demands your presence at the princely capital of Eunoch, to which you will attend after your father’s funeral. Great news awaits you, of which your lady mother will also accompany us to attend. It will be life-changing, but until then, we shall remain here in Steyliff to ensure all is conducted with honor.”

 

Nadir bowed his head and exited the domicile to join Enkidu and the others, leaving Izdubar behind. Just as he motioned to do the same, with Somnus and Anna returning to the tending of Germane’s body, he was suddenly stopped by a hand on his sleeve. “Lord Ardyn…?”

 

“Not here. Please, follow me,” Ardyn whispered within earshot, nodding to a side door beside the kitchen. Mystified but still curious, Izdubar followed without complaint outside where a narrow seam of an alleyway ran between their home and another’s, sloping down into the wilderness where fenced peripheries kept livestock corralled inside. Though night was fast approaching, he supposed it was better to be outside with Ardyn than not. The last few rays of sunlight touched them rosily, but a nocturnal sky was cresting higher, stars peeking through receding clouds.

 

Ardyn perched himself on a fence post where a black Chocobo warked and trotted over, fluttering her stumpy wings while the red-head caressed along her beak affectionately. “Forgive the suddenness of this. I suppose I merely wished to converse of the future without the others listening.” Izdubar remained quiet, canting his head curiously. This only prompted Ardyn to keep speaking, the man appearing thoughtful.

 

“Last night I believe I had a dream like this. The streets of Eunoch were crowded with adoring people, myself astride Artemis,” the Chocobo in questioned trilled in response, “whilst confetti and streamers rained from the sky. It was so very curious, Lord Izdubar. Forgive my staring earlier, but you were at my side. As was Somnus, but we were both older, but you...you were as unchanged as you are now. And there was a woman, with very long black hair...”

 

“Gentiana Lux Fleuret. That is who you dreamt of. Is there anything else notable?” Izdubar prompted insistently, Ardyn gazing at him curiously before regaining his train of thought.

 

“Yes. The people—they were calling me “ _your highness_ ,” as they also did my brother. As if we were royalty. And…this dream. It did not feel like my own. As though it came from someplace else.” Ardyn’s voice drifted, and he knew why. It wasn’t entirely from this new revelation, but from a vision, he was certain of it.

 

“The place it came was not from yourself, true. And it wasn’t a dream. What else?”

 

Ardyn’s golden gaze shot up at Izdubar, his brows furrowed in bemusement together. “In it, I called you Gilgamesh. I know the city, the kingdom—they were not as they are. Even my brother and I’s surnames were different. The same, but not Izunia.”

 

 _Gilgamesh_. Bahamut had told him the one he sought would call him this name, would know it. When the great changes came. When a new era began, it would not be as they were before. This epiphany brought a wan smile to the future Shield’s face beneath the face wrappings. Perhaps he was glad that such a fateful night would reveal to him the beginning of something new. Change was coming, and it didn’t feel so alone.

 

“You’re smiling. I can tell,” Ardyn stated smugly as he avoided Izdubar’s gaze coyly, continuing to lavish attentions upon Artemis.

 

“Does such a thing bother you, my lord?” Izdubar queried, genuinely perplexed. This caused Ardyn to bark a laugh that Artemis reared her head back from, blinking in confusion. Wiping a tear from his eye, the chocobo nudged her master.

 

“Of course not, my dear man! Pardon me, it seems King Laugh has a strange way of manifesting in times of grief,” Ardyn said dismissively, sobering, gaze soft yet sad. He missed his father. He just wanted the future to help him forget, if only for a little.

 

 _King Laugh?_ Izdubar fell silent for a long moment, folding his arms and leaning against the fence railings close to where Ardyn was. This seemed to heighten whatever sentiments Izdubar was absolutely oblivious to. “...Your father. As I’ve heard, he was a good man.”

 

“Recklessly good, foolishly good. He thought little of himself and never rose beyond his station; he was so bloody humble. The town loved him, true, but when the Starscourge took him…what little they could do. As though it were some…damn funny form of repayment, I suppose.” Ardyn ceased in his affections, hands dropping while Artemis plodded away on the turf. “I was powerless to stop it.”

 

Izdubar uncrossed his arms, gazing at Ardyn earnestly, causing the man to lock gazes with him like a deer dazzled by bright headlights of the airships. “My lord, give it but a few days. Then, you shall learn of what you were ordained of and then, only then, will you finally be able to change all that ills our Star.”

 

This caused Ardyn to smile hopefully, gazing towards the brightening stars, wishing for something. “Thank you, Gilgamesh, truly. I only hope you will remain at my side throughout it all. Come what may.”

 

Izdubar heard the name, in truth, liking the way Ardyn said it. Gilgamesh. He supposed he could grow into it.

 

“But of course, my lord. I will remain at your side. This, I promise you.”

**Author's Note:**

>  **Credits:** Some theories used that will eventually make an appearance were by perona77 on reddit, with Gilgamesh’s characterization and background based on the original Epic of Gilgamesh and my own headcanons. He also takes influence from the FF series’ take on Gilgamesh as a whole, so he’ll be canon divergent in that regard (even though we don’t have much backstory on him).


End file.
